Such sterilizing units are known within the framework of the agro-food or pharmaceutical production sites. A number of autoclaves are grouped into one or several sterilizing units after the food or pharmaceutical process, i.e. when the product is contained in its commercial package, before placing the label and placing it into cardboard boxes or plastic films, e.g. in the case of a traditional can.
Said autoclaves generally have an elongated cylindrical shape and are arranged horizontally. In order to optimize the operation of the industrial site considered, the autoclaves are arranged in parallel, side by side, so that their access doors, which are usually located. at one of their ends, are aligned perpendicularly to a loading-unloading circuit in a loop.
Each autoclave is supplied, at the beginning of a cycle, with containers, e.g. pallets filled with containers of substances to be sterilized. Said supply is ensured by a loading unit and through adequate conveying means that can be, among others, a belt, a rail, a chain conveyer, or a cable-guided line. An older organization will implement pallet-bearing fork trucks.
Similarly, each autoclave is unloaded at the end of the cycle by an unloading unit, which can eventually be identical to said loading unit, through evacuating conveying means. Inside each autoclave, an adequate device allows circulating and positioning the various pallets, as occurs in cargo-planes, e.g. by means of cylindrical rolls.
The whole of these operations requires a fine synchronization between the operating cycles of the various autoclaves, the loading and unloading times, as well as the preparation and releasing times for the containers. Thus, the latter must, before sterilization, be loaded with products proceeding from the manufacturing halls, e.g. jars or bags, and, after sterilization, be emptied of said sterilized products, leaving for labeling, putting into cardboard boxes or films, then storage before shipping.
It should be stated that the sterilization cycle comprises thermal and mechanical actions. The
thermal actions consist in subjecting the products, arranged in their container, furthermore clamped on adequate supports, to temperature-raising, and lowering cycles, said cycles being induced by means such as sending vapor into the chamber of the autoclave and, inversely, sending cold water showering the products.
The mechanical actions consist, during the sterilization phase, in generating vibrations, oscillations or turning upside down, of said products.
The looped circuit of the sterilization room does or not allow the passing ahead of containers, in order to optimize the waiting times before each autoclave. This organization has a number of drawbacks, some of which are directly related to the autoclaves:                Firstly, because of their horizontal arrangement, the autoclaves occupy a large floor space, both for themselves and for the related evolution area.        Secondly, the loading and unloading of said containers from a door located at the end of the autoclave assumes efficient proper horizontal displacement means, generally on the floor, as well as an optimization of the height, the width and the length of the various loads depending on the useful dimensions of these autoclaves. This means can be relatively complex and cumbersome.        Thirdly, the jacket of the loaded autoclaves should be designed capable of resisting, in addition to the temperature and pressure cycles, to the stresses generated by the weight of the load.        